No doubt about it: the world is full of problems. Every day, people choose to say and do things that they should not say or do. Their actions contain all of the necessary ingredients for strife. The Bible says a wrathful man looks for the possibility of strife and does whatever necessary to stir it up (Proverbs 15:18). Why does he do this? The Bible points out that he is proud of heart (Proverbs 28:25) and full of hatred (Proverbs 10:12). The Bible further describes this work in Proverbs 26:20-21 where it says, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.” A contentious man seeks to rekindle the flames as he notices the fires of strife beginning to be extinguished.
What does the Bible mean when it says to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness”? Does this mean that believers should never speak to those who do not know Christ as Saviour? The key involves understanding Bible terminology. The word fellowship is a two part compound word. A simple Bible study of the root word fellow indicates that it involves two people working as one (John 11:16; 3 John 8); therefore fellowship involves two people being closely associated. The command for believers to avoid close association with unbelievers is further confirmed when the Bible says believers and unbelievers should not be “unequally yoked together” (2 Corinthians 6:14). When two people are yoked together, they are united in work; but the saved should never unite with the lost in such matters. More importantly, believers must never yoke up with unbelievers in God’s work (Ezra 4:3).
The Bible clearly teaches that no believer is sinless. As such, each believer experiences times when he is rebuked of the Lord. It is a natural part of the Christian life. At the same time, there will be circumstances which will bring about rebuke from other believers (Ecclesiastes 7:5). These are healthy elements of Christian growth. Yet, the goal of every believer should be one where he lives a life beyond rebuke. Paul’s desire for the Philippian believers was that they “may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation” (Philippians 2:15). He then admonished Timothy to keep God’s commandment “without spot” and “unrebukeable” (1 Timothy 6:14).
As is common with church growth, problems arose very early in the church at Jerusalem. Acts chapter 6 tells us of the Grecians who began to murmur against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected (Acts 6:1). The apostles chose not to ignore the problem but to tackle it head on. Yet, they understood their primary responsibilities of not leaving their study of the word of God in order to focus on handling the strife. The apostles instructed the disciples in the church to choose seven men to deal with this particular issue and similar issues that might arise later (Acts 6:3). The Bible also points out that the apostles determined to give themselves “continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). They understood that their study and distribution of the word of God was to take the preeminence in their ministry.
In a day when the world uses the word love rather flippantly, the people of God need to revisit the concept of biblical love. The Bible says, “A friend loveth at all times.” This infers that the concept of falling in and out of love is unscriptural. Biblically defined love is not a fleeting emotion controlled by one’s feelings. It remains a choice based on the truths of scripture and falls outside the whims of one's emotional passions. The world declares its love for something and in the same breath declares its love lost for the latest passing fad. Just as God’s love for us remains permanent, so ought our love for others. Unfortunately, this fickleness has crept into the lives of the believers. We could learn much by considering the example of the Lord’s love for His enemies even after they had so cruelly nailed Him to the tree (Luke 23:34). Biblical love forgives and continues to unconditionally forgive regardless of any objectionable response to one’s love (Proverbs 10:12).
The Bible refers to both a godly and ungodly fear. The two fears will not and cannot coexist. Godly fear pertains to the healthy fear involving fearing the Lord (Isaiah 8:13); however, ungodly fear pertains to fearing the things of this world (Isaiah 8:12). Ungodly fear opposes faith and can grievously effect a person (Job 4:14; Job 22:10; Psalm 48:6; 1 John 4:18), but the fear of the Lord is founded upon faith and provides confidence and assurance. The fear of this world brings torment upon its victims, yet the fear of the Lord prolongs life (Proverbs 10:27). Not surprisingly, the world thrives on triggering ungodly fears, especially its entertainment and news programs. God’s people should avoid the worldly and major on the fear of the Lord.
Most Christians would consider biblical fasting a very unpleasant undertaking. Considering the complexities of the affliction offered by fasting might better help to understand its value. In our passage, the people of God determined to fast so that they might afflict themselves before the Lord. Several other passages discuss this affliction in even more detail. Isaiah 58:3 and 5 describes the affliction as not merely an affliction of the flesh, but also an affliction of the soul. Additionally, we learn that fasting humbles (Psalm 35:13) and chastens (Psalm 69:10) the soul. Fasting involves much more than merely opposition to one’s flesh. Fasting directly afflicts, chastens, and humbles the soul. Perhaps this is why it is so difficult to fast and so beneficial to do so.
The book of Ezra provides the details concerning the time when the Israelites returned to their land to rebuild the temple. As they began to build, adversaries within the land became jealous. They did not want the people of God regaining their strength and restoring their true form of worship. The adversaries hired counsellers against the people of God in order to stop the work. Unfortunately, some things never change. Our work may not involve rebuilding a temple, but God's work always has a purpose that the enemy will seek to undermine. Christians should not be surprised when the Devil sends people into our lives who offer counsel contrary to God's will. God's enemies may even seek to hire counsellers to deter us from what we should be doing.
Because of certain false teachings, there remains a great deal of confusion concerning the matter of confessing sins. However, when we accept the Bible as our sole authority, the confusion dissipates and disappears. Our earlier study showed that actions must follow confession, but to whom should we confess? Some religions falsely teach that we confess our sins to man, but this is simply untrue. The Bible requires that man confess his sins to the Lord. This truth is confirmed repeatedly throughout the word of God. Our First John passage teaches this, but the Bible provides several additional witnesses (Psalm 32:5; Joshua 7:19; 2 Chronicles 30:22; Ezra 10:1; and Daniel 9:4, 20, for instance). Our next study delves into the subject of Christians confessing something to men, but confession of sin or sins must be made solely to God.
Many people claim to confess their sins; yet, confession not followed by action remains fruitless. Several verses in the word of God indicate the truth of the matter. Consider the next four examples: (1) Confession of sin is connected to forsaking sin (Proverbs 28:13); (2) Confession of sin is followed by recompense of the trespass (Numbers 5:7); (3) Solomon connected confessing sin with turning from it (1 Kings 8:35); (4) Confession is followed by doing the Lord’s pleasure (Ezra 10:11). True confession involves much more than simply receiving the Lord’s forgiveness; it involves making wrongs right. True confession is never accomplished by merely opening one's mouth and spouting forth some meaningless words. True confession always produces change in the confessor.
